Alpha Alexandre Brutus's Point of View

I-I can't" she replied quietly. She pulled her arm away from me, but continued to stare into my eyes. "We need to go" she pushed. I was having conflicting emotions and I was not sure which one was more prominent. Probably frustration...

Women...

By the time I caught up with her, she was already downstairs, quickly picking up her keys. She chunked another set of keys at me. I caught them on reflex and when I opened my hand to examine them I found that they were my bike keys.

"How did-?" I asked, glancing up to find her holding up my leather backpack.

"Magic" she replied with a soft smile that made my heart thump quickly. She then pivoted and exited the house. I knew she was in a hurry to get to the Pack House, but if I didn't, the fact that she was already in the car turning it on would have been a huge sign.

"I guess we're not riding together" I murmured as I swung my leg over my motorcycle. She backed out of her drive and I turned on my motorcycle and followed suit.

In little to no time we were pulling up in front of the massive expanse that was my Pack House. Terri was standing by her parked car awkwardly. She seemed indecisive about something, but when she saw me drive around the corner, she planted her feet with affirmation. I parked my motorcycle and swung my long leg off the bike, scanning the scene that was the front of my house, Terri included. She stared at me with a masked expression, but then began walking to meet me .

"You waited for me? You're so sweet" sarcastic bitterness that I didn't intend to show seeped into my comment. She shot me an ugly look and crossed her arms over her chest, picking up her pace as we approached the door. She grabbed the door handle and walked in like she owned the place...which technically she did since... but her cockiness challenged my wolf's temper... constantly.

Once inside, I heard commotion coming from the kitchen area, so I headed that way with Terri behind me.

The scene that opened before me was an interesting one for sure. The twins and Sienna stood in the kitchen wearily staring toward the booth where Jason stood and Sophie, Nate, and his mate sat. The booth was where all the intensity was however, as Nate sat... Or rather hovered over his petite mate while Sophie talked her to death. Sophie, of course, was completely unaware of Nate's frustrated looks and his mates tired expression. Jason, it was obvious to tell, was there to make sure nothing happened to Sophie, however he had no intent on getting her to be quiet.

No, that's always my job. I'm the bad guy.

"Sophie" I growled quietly in warning as I entered the kitchen and she clipped her rambling speech off with a squeak.

"Sorry" she mumbled, looking at me and then back at Nate's mate.

"It's alright" the mate answered quietly with a subtle Russian accents. I wonder where she picked that up at. I felt Terri move from behind me and into sight. Nate's mate looked at her with wide, rather guilty looking eyes. I'd have to question her guiltiness later too.

"Hi" she said with a tenderness in her voice. Why is it that the girl seemingly responsible for her injury gets tenderness and I receive hatred?

Women....

"Are you ok?" Terri continued.

"I- yes, I'm fine. Are you alright?" she queried.

"I'm perfect, thank you" Terri was speaking as if she was conversing with a frightened puppy... which was fairly accurate to be honest. "Natasha, right?" Terri asked, and when she nodded, continued "Natasha, what happened? I tended to your wounds and then you disappeared out my bathroom window. Then I find out my best friend is your mate and that when we chased after you, some foreign shifters tried to kill me. That's quite a bit to happen after only knowing each other for a short while".

"I-" Natasha started but then dropped off into silence. Terri took a deep breath then slowly made her way to the table to grab a chair, never breaking eye contact with Natasha.

"Why don't you start off by telling me who you are and where you're from, ok?" Terri goaded, attempting to create some sort of bond with Natasha. I was never good at bonding with people... emotions are messy and chaotic. Fear had always worked well for me. But I want to see where Terri gets with this, so I'll stay... fairly... quiet.

"My- my name is Natasha Peterson... but I was born Natasha Savvatimov. I was born in town called Magnitogorsk, but my father and mother lived far into the woods near a mountain, away from civilization. My parents had to..." she paused and looked at Nate who just stared at her with a stern expression. She looked down then pulled her chin back up to continue. "My parents had to hide because my mother was a shifter. But not just any kind of shifter, a bear shifter. Her bear was one the last of the O'Shallesey clan from the original Bear Warriors."

"Excuse me?" I growled. What the hell is she talking about. Who the hell are the O'shalla- whatevers? I looked to Jason and Sophie, who shared equally confused looks, but I could tell Terri and Nate understood exactly what was going on, as they both had shocked and awed expressions plastered on their faces.

Of course.... of course they have another thing they share that I have no clue about.

Damn it...

"Just wait, I'll explain it to you later" Terri whispered and looked to Natasha encouragingly.

"Damn straight" I muttered, the jealously I didn't want to feel showing obviously in my tone. Seemed to be a frequent occurrence.

"Well, all of the O'Shallesey bears were thought to have been killed and cursed to never be returned as a warrior spirit, but the bear spirit my mother had received had hardly been a teenager when the war began and was required, because of her family, to fight with the O'Shallesey's even though she did not agree with her families opinions. Towards the end of the war, my mothers spirit had had enough and chose to set free Buchannan Clan prisoners. These prisoners returned later and slaughtered their ex-captors, including the parents of my mothers spirit-bear. But when the Buchannan bears found the young O'Shallesey bear and her toddler sister, they took pity on them and took them in secretly. The spirit my mother had and her young sister lived out their life after the war as Buchannan bears and died great fighters, which permitted them to move on and become future shifting spirits. My mother was gifted... and cursed... with the spirit of the eldest sister. When her family saw her first shift and found out her fur was dark in color, they disowned her and marked her as an outcast. She fled Scotland and traveled to Russia, where she met my human father. As I'm sure you now know, bears do not shift as soon as wolves, so my mother did not know if I would be shifter or not. Considering I was half human, she had hoped that I would not have the ability. Just in case, she hid me from the outside world, waiting until my eighteenth birthday when she would find out. Unfortunantely, she never found out because she and my father were killed when I was seven years old. A man named Vladimir Tokmakov is infamous in Russia for rounding up werewolves and selling in a sort of trafficking system. He's a werewolf, but he doesn't shift any longer as his arm was ripped off in a skirmish years before and he's useless as a wolf. Many shifters believe he captures these wolves because he's so bitter about his injury, others think he just does it for the money. No one knows where he ships them to, but it's a well known fact that the man he works for is powerful and merciless. Vladimir went searching for my mother when he heard rumor of a "were-bear". We ran, as a family, but he eventually found us. I watched, from my hiding place in a crevice, as Vladimir and his henchmen broke my fathers neck and cornered my mother. He was trying to convince her to go with him, something about... special jobs for her, but she would not agree. She shifted and killed most of his men and mauled Vladimir's face before they accidentally strangled her trying to control her with a catching pole. Out of anger at losing such a prize, Vladimir killed all the men working with him. I sat in a small crack for days after they left, staring at my mother's and father's bodies. Finally, a couple came across the bodies in the woods and called the police. I was found by search dogs and the cops took me to the station. I didn't say a word as they questioned me about what happened and what my name was, but they eventually found out. Due to the violence of the case and that they suspected Tokmakov, the Russian Police chose to send me to America to be adopted, which is where I was adopted by the Petersons. The Petersons were told to call me Grace, but when I finally found my voice, I told them I wanted to be called Natasha, as it was my mothers middle name. I lived with them until I was twenty. A little less than a year ago, I was at the adoption agency picking up paperwork when a man came in looking for paperwork on a Russian girl my age. I tried to flee, but as I left the building I ran directly into Vladimir. He tasered me and took me to a lab. I was beaten, drugged, and abused for months. Finally, Vladimir came and told me that if I did a certain job for him, I could have freedom from my prison. I jumped at the chance, ready to escape from the torture of my life. He told me I was to spy and befriend you, Terri. The first time I was released on my own recognizance, I attempted to run away. Vladimir caught me, poisoned me with more poison that only affects bear shifters, and killed my adoptive parents. I haven't tried to escape since... but when I came here to spy on you, I realized that Nathan was my mate. This made befriending you difficult since I needed to spy without being noticed and without being found out. Having a mate would make that impossible. Vladimir was so angry that he considered killing me" a sharp growl came from Nate that caught everyone in the kitchen off-guard, as that wasn't his style at all."but-umm- but he didn't. He told me to do my job anyway possible and not to get caught. I messed up when I ran into you in the hallway that day... I was trying to find your school paperwork to learn about your parents when I almost got caught by teachers. I was trying to get out of the high school quickly before Nate caught my scent, but I ran right into you. When I told Vladimir what happened, he snapped and beat me, and as I was fleeing he shot me with a poisonous bullet. I spent a few days wandering the woods, but my wound and the poison was driving me to delirium. That's when you saw me running down the street. Vladimir's wolves had found my hiding place in the woods, and I knew the wolves would pull back when they realized it was your house I went in to. I fled your house because you told me Nate was coming and... and I wasn't ready to face him or tell you the truth. I lept out the window and made it a few yards into the thicket when I was attacked by a pack of hyena shifters. Terri, I'm so sorry that you were hurt. I didn't realize... I didn't know how great of a person you would be or how many people you would have caring about you when I accepted the job. I... Just wanted freedom." she finished sadly.

"It's ok" Terri said, reaching across the table and resting her hand on Natasha's. Natasha jumped slightly but tried to smile at the gesture.

"But it's not. I told you, I haven't tried to escape because he always finds me and he always makes me pay. For a while I wondered what he could take away from me since everyone I had ever loved was dead. But now..." she tapered off and shot a sideways glance at Nate.

"Well I am pretty sure that all of us here can handle ourselves fairly well, so for now I just want you to recover. I just have one more question. Is that ok?" Terri asked. Natasha nodded solemnly. "Natasha, what does Vladimir want with me? Why is using you to get to me?"

Natasha looked up slowly from the table to make eye contact with Terri. "His Boss wants you".